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DEC Releases Draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond
Management Plan for Public Comment and Announces New 'Trek for Trout' Event
Published: May 09, 2025 at
03:30 p.m.
By: Press Release
from NYS DEC
DEC Releases Draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond
Management Plan for Public Comment and Announces New 'Trek for Trout' Event
Public Comments Accepted through June 13 on Draft
Management Plan
Citizen Science Project to ‘Trek For
Trout’ on May 17
New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Amanda
Lefton today announced the release of the draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond
Management Plan. The draft plan, now available for public comment,
represents years of contribution from the angler and scientific community
and is the first management plan revision for Adirondack pond-dwelling
brook trout in nearly 50 years. It reflects the many changes to the trout
fishery that have taken place over the past five decades and guide DEC’s Adirondack brook trout pond management for
the next 15 years. To continue engaging the public on current and future
management, DEC also announced the May 17 “Trek for Trout” initiative to
collect citizen-driven observations of these backcountry fisheries.
“Brook trout are
an iconic Adirondack species and this new roadmap
will guide DEC’s efforts as we work to address challenges and secure a
successful future for this valuable ecological and recreational
resource,” Acting Commissioner Lefton said. “The
proposed plan was collaboratively developed by DEC fisheries experts after
collection and analysis of four decades of scientific data and feedback
from anglers, local businesses, and a stakeholder focus group.”
The brook trout
is New York’s state fish and an iconic symbol of the Adirondacks. In the
U.S., pond-dwelling populations of brook trout are extremely rare outside
the states of Maine and New York. Brook trout ponds are an important
component of the natural heritage of the Adirondacks, providing a unique
angling opportunity in an often-secluded location.
Once ubiquitous on New York’s northern landscape, up to 90 percent of
the lacustrine brook trout habitat has been lost due to anthropogenic
factors, including poor silvicultural practices, acid-precipitation, and
incompatible and detrimental fish species introductions. Pond-dwelling
brook trout are a key element of the Adirondack
ecosystem and retaining this resource is imperative if New York State is to successfully preserve our Adirondack natural
heritage.
The new plan
replaces the previous Brook Trout Pond Management Plan authored 46 years
ago. While some of the management strategies outlined in the 1979 plan
remain highly relevant, many aspects of the management environment have
changed considerably. These include updates to the scientific knowledge
base, the need for more integrated and structured management, the views and
expectations of the angling public, reductions in acid precipitation, and
new threats to pond-dwelling brook trout, including climate change.
DEC’s updated
plan builds upon the lessons learned over the past four decades, while
incorporating current science to address emerging challenges to the fishery. DEC developed an assessment, “Historical
Perspectives on Adirondack Brook Trout Management,” which is available
on the DEC website and presents what has been learned during the past
four decades.
Expected benefits
associated with the proposed management plan:
- Protection of existing and establishment of
new self-sustaining populations;
- Safeguarded hatchery brook trout production
for fishing and restoration;
- Maintenance and expansion of heritage
broodstock waters;
- Consistent and standardized sampling, data
collection and data management;
- Greater structure in our approach to
management that includes:
- Consideration of climate change in
management actions;
- Decision support tool for management actions;
- Management metrics for “put, grow, and take”
fisheries;
- Creation of a citizen science brook trout
pond angler partnership program;
- Increased awareness about the value of ponded
brook trout populations and human and ecological threats to the
security of those populations; and
- Reduced spread of incompatible and
detrimental fish, including baitfish.
DEC encourages
the public to comment on the Draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management
Plan which will be published in the ENB on May 14, and is also
available on DEC's website. Public comments will be accepted through June
13, 2025. Following a review of public comments received and further
evaluation early this summer, DEC will finalize the plan and begin
implementation.
Trek for Trout
One important
objective of the draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management Plan is to
increase DEC’s knowledge about brook trout pond fisheries. The dispersed
and remote nature of the collective fishery makes it very difficult to
obtain estimates of fishing pressure, catch and harvest rates, and other
parameters of interest using conventional onsite angler survey
methods.
On May 17, 2025,
a one-day partnership event, Trek for Trout, will be held to
support Brook Trout Conservation in the Adirondacks. DEC will be
partnering with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Trout Unlimited, Trout Power, Native Fish Coalition, Paul Smith’s College, and the State University of New York College of Environmental
Science and Forestry to post signs at brook trout ponds as part of
a citizen science initiative to collect angler data and protect these
fisheries. The signs will contain a unique QR Code that anglers can use to
access a survey that will provide DEC with key angler use information.
The sign also has
important messaging to protect brook trout ponds
by reminding anglers that the use of baitfish is prohibited. DEC biologists
will be present at seven posting hubs to provide volunteers
their signs and answer questions about the new Adirondack Brook Trout Pond
Plan. More information about this partnership event can be found at Management
of Adirondack Brook Trout Ponds webpage.
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